


... Or Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain

by orphan_account



Series: You Either Die a Hero... [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Brainwashing, Electricity, Galran Soldier Keith (Voltron), Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Most of the characters are only mention though, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 09:06:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16699540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sequel to my "You Either Die A Hero..." (You probably can read it without reading the first, but it will be a bit confusing)Keith would have been pretty sure he was dead had it not been for the pain.Everything ached, from his head, to his fingertips, to his toes. His mouth had the sharp taste of iron in it, probably blood, and his whole body was spasming as if he had just hand electricity shot through him.(Captured by Haggar after hitting the shield at Naxzela, Keith suffers)





	... Or Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain

**Author's Note:**

> Just a bit of background if you haven't read the first work in this series, Lotor never showed up at Naxzela, and Keith broke through the shield, saving everyone at what they all believed to be the cost of his life.
> 
> As usual, this was not proof-read, so sorry about the undoubtedly many mistakes.  
> Hope you enjoy!

Keith would have been pretty sure he was dead had it not been for the pain. 

Everything ached, from his head, to his fingertips, to his toes. His mouth had the sharp taste of iron in it, probably blood, and his whole body was spasming as if he had just hand electricity shot through him. 

If Keith had to give a rating from 1-10 about how he felt over all, his answer would be a strong, ‘like crap.’

It hurt to breath, he suspected he had several bruised ribs, if not broken. His head pounded all over, making it impossible to tell if he had hit it against something, and if so, where. He tried to move his arms, only to nearly scream when he discovered that his right arm was also broken, as well as the fact that there were apparently cuffs to hold both his arms down that would give him a fresh electric shot if he so much as moved. His eyes flew open to take in the seen, body still twitching with the aftershocks.

The first thing he saw was a face, far too close to his own. The moment he opened his eyes, it squealed and moved closer, adding to his headache.

“He’s awake!” the figure exclaimed, and it sounded familiar, but Keith was too busy trying to focus on its blue and yellow eyes that were  _ far _ too close for comfort, to put a name with their face.

Luckily, it seemed that whoever it was wasn’t alone, and one of their companions pulled them away from Keith with a small pyramidal.

“Ezor, given the prisoner a bit of space,” this voice was also familiar, and once Keith had blinked his eyes a few times to get them to focus, and he felt his blood run cold when he recognized Lotor’s generals. 

_ Prisoner _ . The word echoed in his head and he felt a cold stone of fear begin to grow in his stomach. He was a prisoner, held by Lotor’s generals, and probably Lotor himself. This was not good. Static fear overtook his hearing for a moment, and he had to force it back when he realized they were still talking. He had a feeling he should listen what they were saying, even though he knew he wouldn’t like it.

“Zethrid, Ezor, go fetch the witch,” Keith recognized the one speaking as the one he had saved from the Weblum. He felt a flash of anger at the coldness in her eyes, he had saved her once, and this was how she repaided him? Then he had to clench his eyes shut as another bout of pain overtook him.

“Why do we have to go? I wanna stay here and have some fun with the newest prisoner,” the one who had been in Keith’s face-- Ezor, Keith believed her name was-- whined.

The biggest one, presumably Zethrid, sighed, and Keith opened his eyes in time to see her grab Ezor by the arm. “Which is exactly why Axca told you to come with me. Come on Ezor.”

They left, the door sliding closed behind them, leaving Keith alone with the last general, Axca, he thought he heard her name to be, and silence fell over the room.

Lance wouldn’t have been able to bear it, this silence. He would have been talking up a storm by now, maybe even started hitting on Axca. Probably would have started hitting on Axca. The thought of his teammate made Keith almost want to smile.

Wait, no. Not teammate. Not anymore. Keith walked away from them, Keith left them. He wasn’t apart of that team anymore, and he never would be again. He just would have to deal with it. It was his own fault anyways. Just like it always was.

Keith bit his lip and closed his eyes again, trying to focus on the physical pain instead of the emotional. Physical pain he could deal with, he had had plenty of practice.

...Of course, he’d had plenty of experience with the emotional pain too, but he still didn’t know how to deal with it.

Keith had just managed to push back his emotions when the door hissed open again.

Keith kept his eyes closed, hoping that somehow, if he just kept them closed, they would go away. He should have known better, that never worked. All it did was make them angry. Sure enough, within a moment, electricity was coursing through his veins again and his eyes flew open as he screamed out in pain.

The electricity lasted a moment longer, and then it was gone, and Keith was left twitching on the table, Zarkon’s witch glowering over him with a wicked smile on her face.

“So he is awake,” the witch said, and Keith hated the way her voice grated over his ears. 

“I finally get the honor of meeting the Red Paladin.”

_ No longer. I’m not the Red Paladin anymore. _

Haggar tilted her head in a creepy way as if she were listening to something. Then she straightened her neck, and smiled. “My apologies,  _ former _ Red Paladin.”

Wait, that was a thing, wasn’t it. The witch could read minds, or at least invade them. Keith remembered Kolivan telling him this once. Immediately he threw up the mental walls the Blades had taught him to. The witch laughed.

“You think that you can keep me out? You are a fool.”

“And you’re a monster,” Keith growled out. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to say, and the witch’s glowing eyes narrowed.

“Oh, we will see who the monster is by the end of this,” the witch threatened, and then all Keith knew was pain until he blacked out.

 

***

 

Everyday the torture resumed. He would wake up, with his entire body aching from the half-healed wounds that would be reopened again today, be given a menger slice of what seemed like bread or an occasional fruit, a small bottle of water, and the opportunity to relieve himself. 

Then he would have to wait. 

He did this in the corner of his cell, preferring not to pace as he would have before all this. He had been too out of it to realize the first time he woke up, but in the explosion that had resulted from him flying his ship into the shield, he had lost his right foot. Zarkon’s witch had replaced it with one of her own design, reminding Keith of Shiro’s arm. Shiro, who Keith was already beginning to forget the face of.

He found that he had begun forgetting faces a while ago, starting when one of his guards mentioned Princess Allura in passing, and Keith had thought the name sounded familiar. Then with a jolt he remembered that before this, before the Blades, she had been his friend. And try as he might, he couldn’t remember her face.

Frantically, he tried remembering Coran, with his mustache and amused smile. Nothing.

Lance, with his cocky smirk, challenging to another stupid thing. It was blurry.

Hunk, with his warm eyes and welcoming hugs. Blurry.

Pidge, with her brother’s glasses and her confident grin. Fading.

Keith had held his breath for a moment, and remembered Shiro.

He could still remember his warm smile, his dark hair, his eyes that shone with belief. Keith let out a breath. That one had still been strong.

But now, he couldn’t put faces to any of his old team, he could barely remember them as shapeless and faceless blurs. The only one he even slightly remembered was Shiro, but even that image was vague.

The worst part wasn’t even that. It was that he just simply didn’t care anymore.

Keith leaned his head back against the wall behind him, closing his eyes and letting out a breath. When he opened them again, they were dull, just the way the witch wanted them.

Her plan was going perfectly. She had broken the famed Red Paladin, now it was time to fix him her way.

 

***

 

Her first step had been to get him to forget the others, forget who he had been. Check. Next she had had to rename him. Not the most exciting task, so she had allowed her son and his generals to complete the task. Kethik was decided by the pink one. It wasn’t the most creative name, but it would serve its purpose. So, check.

Next step was to teach him of the glory of the Galran empire. 

She looked over to where the Kethik was laying, her personal druids standing near his head where they transferred fake memories that would make Kethik loyal to the empire. Some of the memories may not match up completely, as was the problem with fake memories, but it would work enough to keep him loyal.

She folded her hands together. It was almost time for his training. To get his fight back. It shouldn’t take long, after his new memories and his muscle memory of fighting, and then they would be ready to move on to the final step.

The step that would destroy Voltron once and for all.

She let a slow grin crawl up her scared face at the thought.

Oh, she was going to enjoy this.

 

***

 

“I may not know when Voltron is attacking, but I know that when they do, we will fight to the death like true Galra. Victory or Death is the only way. Vrepit Sa!”

“Vrepit Sa, sir,” Kethik coursed with his fellow soldiers, a familiar feeling of anger pumping through his veins at the mention of Voltron. Voltron, who had killed so many Galra, who claimed to protect the universe when all they were really doing was hurting it.

The commander was about to say something more, probably to ramble on and on about a how they could do this, they just needed to stand their ground, victory or death, etc, etc, when Empress Haggar entered. Kethik dropped to a knee and bowed his head alongside the rest of his fellow soldiers.

“Rise,” Haggar dismissed, and they all obeyed. She pointed a finger at Kethik, then turned her hand and curled her finger towards herself, beginning to speak again. “Soldier Kethik. Come with me.”

Kethik felt all eyes on him as he walked forward, dropping to a knee right before the Empress.

“Rise, and follow,” Empress Haggar told him, and he obeyed, hyper aware of all the stares burning holes in his back.

Kethik followed the Empress to a room that held the prison garb, and she handed him a set.

“Put these on,” she told him, and then walked out of the room to wait for him to do so.

Kethik was confused, had he done something wrong? He didn’t think so, at least, nothing so bad that he would be thrown into their prisons for it. 

Regardless, he stripped and put on the prisoner’s uniform, shivering with the sudden lack of warmth and protection.

He gathered his amour, and then met with Empress Haggar just outside the door. She snapped, and his armour disappeared, leaving him with only his sheathed knife. It was just an ordinary knife that was given to all the soldiers along with a blaster. Most prefered to use the blaster over the knife, though Kethik personally preferred the knife, it felt more familiar in his hand.

“Put that in your boot, you’ll need it later,” the Empress instructed, and Kethik wordlessly obeyed.

“Come,” Empress Haggar ordered, and Kethik wordlessly followed, uneven footsteps echoing in the halls that lead to the holding cells.

“I have it from very good sources that Voltron will attack today,” the Empress began, startling Kethik for a moment so much that he forgot all of his manners, something could get him killed if he wasn’t careful.

“What! We need to alert everyone, get the ship on lockdown, prepare to fight!”

Empress Haggar narrowed her eyes at Kethik, who sucked in a quick breath when he realized what he had just done.

“My humble apologies, Empress Haggar. I am unworthy to be in your presence. Please,” Kethik tilted his head in a way that made his neck vulnerable, preparing himself for the killing blow.

“Stand down soldier. You still have a purpose to serve for me. Just keep following me and silence yourself.”

Kethik immediately obeyed, following his Empress as she began to walk again and continued to explain things.

“You are to be bait for Voltron. You look similar to their species, and they will undoubtedly want to help you. You will allow them to bring you on board their ship, and that is where you will strike. Leave no one on the castle alive. Understand?” she stopped long enough to look at him while he responded. Kethik followed suit.

“Yes, Empress Haggar. Vrepit Sa,” Kethik proclaimed, crossing his arm over his chest. Empress Haggar nodded, seeming satisfied, and then lead the rest of the short distance to the nearest cell, ordering Kethik to open it with his hand. He obeyed, and then entered.

“When they come, they will try to convince you that you know them. That they are your friends. Don’t let them fool you. They are liars and murders. Once you are on the ship, do not hesitate to complete your mission. Understand?”

“Yes, Empress. Vrepit Sa.”

“Vrepit Sa,” Haggar repeated, and then closed the door on Kethik.

With nothing better to do, Kethik went over to sit in one of the corners to wait, the action feeling familiar for some reason…

 

***

 

To say that Voltron attacked fiercely was an understatement. Ever since Keith’s death from going kamikaze into the witch’s shield, the fight had felt a lot more personal to every member of the team. Even Allura and Coran, who had already lost their entire race to the Galran, felt that wound being reopened when Keith died, another family member lost to the Galra.

When they were able to detect the ship that Zarkon’s witch was believed to be on, they set out as soon as they heard, deciding that a plan could be made on the way there. 

It was brash, Lance knew, but they didn’t know how long the ship would remain stationary, and so they had to act fast.

It was Pidge’s job to remotely hack the ship to shut it down and down load the data. Hunk would be covering her in his lion.

Allura and Lance would go to release the prisoners, before meeting up with Shiro, who had assigned himself the most dangerous job of them all.

He was going to hunt down the witch and kill her.

Everyone had tried to reason with him, but he was set. Allura and Lance told him multiple times to come help the prisoners with them, but everytime he refused. It was all they could do to convince him to let Allura and Lance join him after the prisoners were released.

Everyone knew what he was thinking, it was what they were all thinking, the witch needed to pay. Pay for the death of Keith. Pay for the death of Shiro’s little brother.

So, reluctantly, they all agreed. Pidge would hack, Hunk would guard, Allura and Lance would help the prisoners, and Shiro would hunt down the witch.

“Nearly there,” Pidge muttered over the coms to Hunk and to Lance, Allura, and Shiro who were standing behind her in Green’s cockpit. They would be using Green’s cloaking to get them inside.

“Roger that,” Hunk’s voice came in over the coms, and then silence fell again, tension building between everyone, reaching a peak when the ship came into view. It looked just like any of the other Galran cruisers, big and purple, but Lance knew immediately that it was the right one.

“Cloaking activated,” Pidge said aloud, and there was a ripple across the screen as the cloaking covered Green.

“Hunk, you’re on.”

“Got it Pidge,” Hunk replied, and then a moment later, the Yellow lion was firing at the ship, careful not to hit anything vital, but enough to draw out the fighter pilots.

After Pidge was sure that one of the fighter bays was empty, she flew into it and docked, dropping Green’s mouth open. She turned to look at them over her seat. 

“Be safe,” was all she said, and Lance spared her a grin that was somewhat forced.

“I’m the master of being safe, no need to worry about me,” he joked, even though he knew that it wasn’t him Pidge was referring to, looking over him at the retreating back of their Black Paladin. Lance spared one glance at Shiro, then hit the off button on his and Pidge’s coms. He looked at Allura, and she got the message, turning off her own coms.

“I’ll go after him, you got the prisoners?” Lance asked, and Allura nodded.

“Of course.”

Lance glanced at Pidge. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep him safe. I’m not planning on letting you lose anymore brothers.”

Pidge just nodded, though Lance could see the red that rimmed her eyes. “Thanks,” she said, and then turned back on her coms. Lance and Allura did the same, then left Green, Lance sparing a moment to watch her take off again before waving goodbye to Allura and running over to Shiro, who was marching briskly.

“Dude,” Lance huffed when he caught up to Shiro, panting and trying to catch his breath. “Why are you moving so fast?”

“I thought you were going with Allura to get the prisoners,” Shiro said gruffly instead of answering.

“She’s a strong independent woman who don’t need no man. She’s got it,” Lance tried to deflect, but Shiro saw right through it.

“Did the others put you up to this?” Shiro asked, dragging Lance to hid around a corner when he saw a sentry march by. Shiro stuck his head back around the corner, looking both ways to make sure the coast was clear, and then continued on.

“Um, kinda? I mostly did it myself. Dude, we are all worried about you,” Lance said, hopping a step to catch up to Shiro.

“I’m fine.”

“Um, no you’re not? None of us are fine? We’re all in a giant space war using a giant robot made out of giant cats and we are fighting purple space cats and we could all die at any moment and Keith--”

“Lance,” Shiro cut Lance off before he could go any further.

“Crap. Sorry, Shiro. But look, the point is, none of us want to lose another brother. Or any other family member. Especially not our Space Dad.”

Lance could have sworn he saw Shiro wipe away a tear, and he totally wasn’t going to judge, but then Shiro kept on marching like nothing had happened and Lance let it drop. They continued their march in silence.

***

 

Allura slashed through the last cell’s control panel, already preparing the quickest route back to get to Lance and Shiro, all of the cells so far had proven empty, and she was prepared for this one to be too, when her eyes landed on the prison and she gasped.

Because there was no way that the person that that familiar raven-colored messy lock of hair, that pale skin, and those purple eyes belonged to was actually here, alive.

But then he stood up, metal foot flashing as it shifted in the light, before Allura knew what she was doing, she was hugging him tightly, tears filling her eyes.

“Keith,” she breathed, “Keith, Keith, Keith, you’re alive!”

She held onto him for another moment, relishing in holding him, warm and alive, albeit a bit skinnier than he had been last time she saw him. She felt tears leaking from her eyes, but she didn’t care.

She was so caught up in her euphoria of him being alive that she didn’t recognize how stiffly he held himself through her hug, nor did she notice the confused look on his face, even when she held him out at arm’s length to get a better look at him.

She scanned him up and down, he had a few more scars over the back of his hands and some visible on his neck, little pinpricks of paler skin where she assumed he got hit with shrapnel from his ship or was burned, and that was only from what wasn’t hidden by his prison uniform.

His right foot was missing, replaced by a foot with the same design of Shiro’s arm, and Allura suddenly remembered Matt saying that he saw what had looked like a human foot among all the rubble of Keith’s ship. The thought made her sick, so she quickly turned her thoughts to think of happier things.

Like that Keith was alive.

Like how happy Shiro and the rest of the team would be once they found out.

Speaking of which… she may as well call them down now. The witch was an important target, but Keith being alive is much more important at the moment.

She reached up to flip on her coms, preparing them to broadcast her voice to the others. She considered telling them straight away that Keith was alive, but she wanted to see the look on Shiro’s face when he saw his brother again.

“Shiro, Lance. I need you down here now.”

“Is something wrong Princess?” Lance’s worried voice came over the coms.

“No, no,” she quickly reassured, and then shot Keith a grin. “Everything is wonderful. But there is something really important here that you’ll want to see.”

“Can it wait? We are almost to the center of the ship where Pidge has picked up the witch’s biorhythm,” Shiro voice came through.

“Trust me, this is far more important than killing the witch. Meet me down here in five dobashes.”

There was a silence for a moment, and then Shiro’s voice came over her com again, sounding frustrated.

“Fine. Be there in five dobashes.”

“Me too,” Lance chimed in, and then their coms went silent and Allura grinned, turning off her own com unit.

“Lance and Shiro are on their way down now. They are going to be so excited to see you Keith. Things haven’t been the same these last few phebes without you. Shiro was hit especially hard in your absence. Seeing you alive is going to do a lot of good for him.” Allura was rambling a bit, but she was just so excited that she couldn’t help it.

Keith blinked, and tilted his head slightly. “Shiro and Lance,” he said their names slowly, as if trying to get every sound right, “Are going to go kill Empress Haggar?” he asked.

Allura scrunched up her nose in distaste. “That was the original plan. It was her shield that killed you, although apparently it didn’t, and so we all, Shiro especially, wanted to take her down. But with you here, that is definitely not the priority anymore.”

Keith still looked confused, mouthing over the words  _ Shiro _ and  _ Lance  _ and  _ shield _ silently before opening his mouth to speak again, but then Pidge’s voice came over Allura’s com, and Allura held up a finger to silence Keith so that she could listen.

“Allura, this is a private com, but I just pulled up the bioscans of the cells, and tell me if that isn’t--” Pidge didn’t finish her sentence, but Allura knew what she meant.

“It is,” Allura confirmed.

“Keith’s alive?” Pidge said, sounding amazed and as if she were about to cry.

“He is,” Allura confirmed, and after a moment she asked, “Could you clue Hunk in? And Coran? I want it to be a nice surprise for Shiro, and by extension, Lance.”

“Roger that Allura,” Pidge responded in a thick voice. Then her com cut out.

Allura checked her holoscreen from her gauntlet. Less than a dobash left until Lance and Shiro would see Keith. She couldn’t wait.

Suddenly her ears perked up to the sound of hurried footsteps and human voices and she allowed her smile to grow even bigger. Keith also jerked up at the noise, looking in the direction it was coming from.

“What is it Princess--” Shiro abruptly cut off and stopped as he rounded the corner and his gaze landed on Keith, which caused Lance to walk right into him.

“What the heck, dude,” Lance complained, rubbing his nose as he walked around Shiro. “You’re like literally a brick wall. Ouch--” Allura got the feeling that Lance would have continued had his eyes not landed on Keith, who shuffled his feet awkwardly.

“Keith?” Shiro sounded so happy, so hopeful, so confused, and so sad all at the same time somehow that Allura’s heart practically broke.

“Ummm, yes?” Keith said, sounding confused, but so like Keith, and then Shiro was rushing forward and wrapping Keith in his arms gently and tightly at the same time.

Shiro’s voice changed through Allura’s universal translator that told her that he was speaking a different language, though he was speaking low enough that she couldn’t make out the words.

At the words, Keith looked confused for a moment, and then relaxed into Shiro’s embrace, muttering something back in the same language. Allura hadn’t realized just how stiff Keith had been until he relaxed.

Allura was watching the seen with a small smile and some tears potentially leaking out of her eyes, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Lance, who also had his share of tears wetting his face and a look of amazement.

“Should I call Pidge in to pick us up?” he asked, not taking his eyes off Keith as if he feared that if he did, Keith would just disappear, a fear that Allura understood.

She sent a look back at the brothers, and then nodded her head. “That would be wonderful. She knows already too, she picked up his biorhythm and recognized it.”

“I expected nothing less from her.” Lance said, then turned his com on, pressumably a private line to Pidge and Hunk and Coran.

“We can go whenever, abandoning the witch hunt for now. Pidge, where should we meet you?”

Pidge must have given Lance directions, because he nodded before thanking her.

“Down the hall that way and then first left. She will call in once she gets there, but it is close enough that we can chill here, granted there aren’t any sentries or other soldiers patrolling here.”

Something suddenly struck Allura, and she frowned. Since entering the ship, she hadn’t seen a single patrol. 

“What is it Princess?” Lance asked. When Allura told him, he frowned, and looked around, as if to make sure that there really weren’t any patrols around.

“Weird,” Lance said, his brows furrowing as he thought, “Me and Shiro saw a few, but now that you mention it, I didn’t see nearly as many as I thought I would. And the ones we saw were all sentry’s.”

“The soldiers are still at an inspirational speech. For how to take down you guys,” Keith and Shiro had finally let go of each other, though they still stood close, and Keith kept on sending confused looks over towards Shiro.

“Wait, the Galra have inspirational speakers who give inspirational speeches on how to take down Voltron? That is the funniest thing I have ever--” Lance began laughing to hard to finish the sentence. Keith bristled slightly.

“Of course, don’t you--”

Whatever Keith was about to say was cut off by Pidge’s voice over the coms.

“Green is landed, climb aboard.”

 

***

 

To say that Kethik was confused was an understatement. He had understood Empress Haggar’s warning that the team would try and convince him that he knew them, but he hadn’t thought that they would try  _ this  _ much. It almost seemed as if they were deluded enough to think that he had been.

And all these hugs, Keith wasn’t sure about them. He knew that he should hate them, they were signs of vulnerability in front of the enemy, but he couldn’t help that they felt so warm, so safe, so familiar…

All of them felt familiar in a weird way. They must have done something to his brain to make him feel that way. Maybe they had had some sort of gas or something…

And the one they called Shiro. There was something especially familiar about him, and he had talked in two different languages that Keith hadn’t even needed the translator for, and neither of which were Galran. It confused and disturbed him, he hadn’t even known he knew any languages other than Galran.

Part of him wanted to find out more, about all of it, and the other part feared finding out. Luckily, he wouldn’t have to worry about either of those things soon, he thought as the bright white of the enemy ship came into focus.

He had a mission to complete.

**Author's Note:**

> ...The beginning of this was really hard for me to write. I originally was going to go more into detail about what Haggar did to Keith, but I discovered that I just couldn't do it. I guess I just don't have what it takes to write that sort of stuff, and if you do have it, I have a newfound respect for you.  
> Other than that, this fic got a little away from me. It was supposed to be really simple and clear and have a good ending, but apparently my brain wanted another part of this universe. Which is unfortunate, because I started writing one to get this series done and over with so I could move on to bigger and better things. I guess that I'll just have to make this a bigger and better thing too.
> 
> Also, don't hesitate to point out any mistakes in the comments, I promise I won't be at all offended.
> 
> Anywho, hope y'all have a wonderful rest of the day, you guys are the best, thanks for reading.
> 
>  
> 
> -MasterOfMyDestiny


End file.
